This week seems an opportune time to look at the use of punk/post-punk music outside its usual context. Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006) is a perfect example of how the music of bands such as The Clash and New Order is used in a way that transfers the ideologies of the 1970s musical genre to the film's 18th century setting. Coppola has often been criticised for her unusual stylistic approach to the film, but her choice of songs gives the text an additional layer of meaning that a period-influenced baroque score could not.
The soundtrack’s repackaging of well-known songs does not have the nostalgic effect that Tinknell finds in Forrest Gump or Pulp Fiction. Instead, the jarring tracks tell of a young girl confined to traditional world of royalty, hierarchy and succession. The punk subculture’s desire for freedom and individualism is manifested in Antoinette’s complete disregard for her advisors’ recommendations as to how she should run her country. Her choice to live in opulent luxury while the rest of France slides towards ruin, is foreshadowed in the lyrics of the film’s opening song, Gang of Four’s ‘Natural’s Not In It’: ‘The problem of leisure, What to do for pleasure’.
By way of contrast, a score in the restrained, ‘proper’ baroque style accompanies Antoinette’s moments of propriety. The opposing musical styles and their corresponding connotations work well together to contribute to the audience’s understanding of Marie Antoinette.
The soundtrack’s repackaging of well-known songs does not have the nostalgic effect that Tinknell finds in Forrest Gump or Pulp Fiction. Instead, the jarring tracks tell of a young girl confined to traditional world of royalty, hierarchy and succession. The punk subculture’s desire for freedom and individualism is manifested in Antoinette’s complete disregard for her advisors’ recommendations as to how she should run her country. Her choice to live in opulent luxury while the rest of France slides towards ruin, is foreshadowed in the lyrics of the film’s opening song, Gang of Four’s ‘Natural’s Not In It’: ‘The problem of leisure, What to do for pleasure’.
By way of contrast, a score in the restrained, ‘proper’ baroque style accompanies Antoinette’s moments of propriety. The opposing musical styles and their corresponding connotations work well together to contribute to the audience’s understanding of Marie Antoinette.
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